U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom spoke against hate crimes on Wednesday during a presentation at Wichita State University. The Hate Crime Prevention Act was passed five years ago this month. KMUW’s Abigail Wilson has more.

Grissom spoke to students about the need to eradicate both hate and hate crimes. He mentioned several events in Wichita that were found to be motivated by hate including arson at a mosque in 2011 and the vandalization of a mural celebrating immigration earlier this year.

Education

11:48 am

Mon October 13, 2014

Kansas State University says it will not renew the contract of a professor who conducted controversial research on grassland burning.

Research associate Gene Towne says he believes his 26-year career will end Oct. 31 because he suggested in a published article that ranchers could burn grassland at times other than April. For years, the university has said spring, especially late April, was the best time for grassland burning to revive the prairie.

Education

11:39 am

Mon October 13, 2014

Nearly 200 students of a Kansas-based college have joined a lawsuit that accuses the school of fraud.

The lawsuit against Wright Career College was filed last year but amended recently to add 195 more students. The current and former students attended Wright's campuses in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

The lawsuit says the private, nonprofit college enticed students to enroll and apply for student loans that they could not pay back. It also claims Wright deceived students about attendance costs and employment prospects.

Wichita State University announced a significant donation on Thursday morning that will be used for their proposed Innovation Campus, a massive expansion that is slated to be built over Braeburn Golf Course.

The Sam and Rie Bloomfield Foundation’s gift of $2.5 million will help create the first endowed chair for Innovation Campus.

The Sam Bloomfield Chair in Innovation Engineering is meant to help technology grow in the local and regional economies.

Education

11:55 am

Tue September 30, 2014

Washburn University and Johnson County Community College will receive $12 million dollars federal grants to develop programs to train students in new technology skills.

Washburn president Jerry Farley says the funds will be used mostly for training through the School of Nursing and the School of Applied Studies. He says the school plans to reach out to more veterans with the funding.

The grants were part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training program, which is co-administered by the Labor and Education departments.

The program will allow businesses to donate to nonprofit organizations for scholarships for low-income children attending public schools to transfer to private schools. The businesses would receive a tax credit that subtracts 70 percent of their donation from their tax bills.